Study Tools

Lord of the Flies

William Golding

Key Facts

Quiz

Study Questions

1.

What does it
mean to say that Lord of the Flies is an allegorical
novel? What are its important symbols?

Lord of the Flies is an
allegorical novel in that it contains characters and objects that
directly represent the novel’s themes and ideas. Golding’s central
point in the novel is that a conflict between the impulse toward
civilization and the impulse toward savagery rages within each human
individual. Each of the main characters in the novel represents
a certain idea or aspect of this spectrum between civilization and
savagery. Ralph, for instance, embodies the civilizing impulse,
as he strives from the start to create order among the boys and
to build a stable society on the island. Piggy, meanwhile, represents
the scientific and intellectual aspects of civilization. At the
other end of the spectrum, Jack embodies the impulse toward savagery
and the unchecked desire for power and domination. Even more extreme
is Roger, who represents the drive for violence and bloodlust in
its purest form. Furthermore, just as various characters embody
thematic concepts in the novel, a number of objects do as well.
The conch shell, which is used to summon the boys to gatherings
and as a emblem of the right to speak at those gatherings, represents
order, civilization, and political legitimacy. Piggy’s glasses, which
are used to make fire, represent the power of science and intellectual
endeavor. The sow’s head in the jungle, meanwhile, embodies the
human impulse toward savagery, violence, and barbarism that exists
within each person. Throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding
uses these characters and objects to represent and emphasize elements
of the themes and ideas he explores in the novel.

2.

Compare
and contrast Ralph and Simon. Both seem to be “good” characters.
Is there a difference in their goodness?

Both Ralph and Simon are motivated toward
goodness throughout the novel. Both boys work to establish and maintain
order and harmony with the rest of the group and are kind and protective
in their interactions with the littluns. However, as the novel progresses,
we get the sense that Ralph’s and Simon’s motivations for doing
good stem from different sources. Ralph behaves and acts according
to moral guidelines, but this behavior and these guidelines seem learned
rather than innate. Ralph seems to have darker instinctual urges
beneath: like the other boys, he gets swept up by bloodlust during
the hunt and the dance afterward. Simon, on the other hand, displays
a goodness and kindness that do not seem to have been forced or
imposed upon him by civilization. Instead, Simon’s goodness seems
to be innate or to flow from his connection to nature. He lives
in accordance with the moral regulations of civilization simply because
he is temperamentally suited to them: he is kind, thoughtful, and
helpful by nature. In the end, though Ralph is capable of leadership,
we see that he shares the hidden instinct toward savagery and violence
that Jack and his tribe embrace. Although Ralph does prove an effective
leader, it is Simon who recognizes the truth that stands at the
core of the novel—that the beast does not exist in tangible form
on the island but rather exists as an impulse toward evil within
each individual.

3.

How does
Jack use the beast to control the other boys?

Jack expertly uses the beast to manipulate
the other boys by establishing the beast as his tribe’s common enemy,
common idol, and common system of beliefs all in one. Jack invokes
different aspects of the beast depending on which effects he wants
to achieve. He uses the boys’ fear of the beast to justify his iron-fisted
control of the group and the violence he perpetrates. He sets up
the beast as a sort of idol in order to fuel the boys’ bloodlust
and establish a cultlike view toward the hunt. The boys’ belief
in the monster gives Lord of the Flies religious
undertones, for the boys’ various nightmares about monsters eventually
take the form of a single monster that they all believe in and fear.
By leaving the sow’s head in the forest as an offering to the beast,
Jack’s tribe solidifies its collective belief in the reality of
the nightmare. The skull becomes a kind of religious totem with
extraordinary psychological power, driving the boys to abandon their
desire for civilization and order and give in to their violent and
savage impulses.

Suggested Essay Topics

1. Of all the characters, it
is Piggy who most often has useful ideas and sees the correct way
for the boys to organize themselves. Yet the other boys rarely listen
to him and frequently abuse him. Why do you think this is the case? In what
ways does Golding use Piggy to advance the novel’s themes?

2. What, if anything, might the
dead parachutist symbolize? Does he symbolize something other than
what the beast and the Lord of the Flies symbolize?

3. The sow’s head and the conch
shell each wield a certain kind of power over the boys. In what
ways do these objects’ powers differ? In what way is Lord
of the Flies a novel about power? About the power of symbols?
About the power of a person to use symbols to control a group?

4. What role do the littluns
play in the novel? In one respect, they serve as gauges of the older
boys’ moral positions, for we see whether an older boy is kind or
cruel based on how he treats the littluns. But are the littluns
important in and of themselves? What might they represent?

11:
1. What symbols does Golding use to show that civilization has been destroyed on the island?
2. What do you think is meant by "They understood only too well the liberation into savagery that the concealing paint brought"?

12:
1. How does Golding change his boys from savages back to little boys in the eyes of the reader?
2. What is the purpose of the naval officer's presence in the surrounding waters, and what is the irony of this in the light of his reaction to the "fun and games" of the boys?